字Study Chinese Characters
声

shēng sound; voice

7 strokes

声 (shēng) is a Chinese character meaning “sound”. It is written from 士 (scholar) and 尸 (corpse) and ㇑ (vertical stroke), and takes 7 strokes.

Build the character for “sound; voice”

Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.

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Learn this character

Structure

士 + 尸 + ㇑

Overlapping structure

  • 士 scholar · shì unknown
  • 尸 corpse · shī unknown
  • ㇑ vertical stroke unknown

Structure from: Unicode U+58F0 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (7 strokes: 横 竖 横 / 横折 竖 横 撇; strokes 1-3 form 士, strokes 4,6,7 form 尸, stroke 5 is a short vertical inside it). Modern shape only — no historical claim.

Memory aid

A scholar (士) stands on top of a bent frame (尸), and a short vertical stroke (㇑) hangs inside that frame like a stone chime. Strike the hanging stone and you get a sound.

This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.

Stroke order

7 strokes

In real words

  • 声音shēng yīnsound; voice声 = shēng
  • 大声dà shēngloudly; in a loud voice声 = shēng
  • 吭声kēng shēngto utter a sound; to speak up声 = shēng
  • 吱声zhī shēngto utter a sound; to speak up声 = shēng
  • 唉声叹气āi shēng tàn qìto sigh and moan; to heave deep sighs声 = shēng
  • 声调shēng diàotone (of a syllable)声 = shēng
  • 涛声tāo shēngthe sound of waves声 = shēng
  • 铃声líng shēngringing sound; ringtone声 = shēng
Go deeper

All readings

shēng main reading

sound; voice

sound; voice; noise; (measure word) for sounds and utterances; to state or make known

物体振动产生、能被耳朵听到的响动；说话的音；也作量词，用于发出的声音。 — studyhanzi 编写

Words with this reading

  • 声音shēng yīnsound; voice声 = shēng
  • 大声dà shēngloudly; in a loud voice声 = shēng
  • 吭声kēng shēngto utter a sound; to speak up声 = shēng
  • 吱声zhī shēngto utter a sound; to speak up声 = shēng
  • 唉声叹气āi shēng tàn qìto sigh and moan; to heave deep sighs声 = shēng
  • 声调shēng diàotone (of a syllable)声 = shēng
  • 涛声tāo shēngthe sound of waves声 = shēng
  • 铃声líng shēngringing sound; ringtone声 = shēng

Other characters with these parts

士 → 吉壬壮壳志壶壹款

尸 → 卢尺尼尾尿局屁层

㇑ → 不丐丑且丘乍也书

Easy to confuse with

壳户

Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions

Questions people ask about this character

What does 声 mean?

声 (shēng) means sound; voice; noise; (measure word) for sounds and utterances; to state or make known.

How do you pronounce 声?

It is pronounced shēng.

What parts is 声 made of?

士 (scholar) and 尸 (corpse) and ㇑ (vertical stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+58F0 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (7 strokes: 横 竖 横 / 横折 竖 横 撇; strokes 1-3 form 士, strokes 4,6,7 form 尸, stroke 5 is a short vertical inside it). Modern shape only — no historical claim.. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.

How many strokes does 声 have?

7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 声?

士. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.

What words use 声?

Common ones are 声音 and 大声. The reading of 声 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.